DARC
by MILLIONAIRE
Summary: A new class has arrived at Hogwarts, D.A.R.C. defence agaisnt risky creatures. Three of the marauders and Lily Evans are chosen to participate in the program. What will happen when Lily and James are forced to work together as a team...?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: **_D.A.R.C – the beginning…_

"BLAAARGHHH!" James jerked awake as Sirius sat up in bed, screaming his lungs out.

"Bloody _hell_." He groaned, and threw a pillow at Sirius' head. He missed, and hit Peter, the tag-along and entire fan club of the three boys instead. It didn't seem to hurt him, much less wake him. Pettigrew continued snoring, drooling onto his teddy bear pyjamas.

"And that was why I never made it as a Beater." James sighed and watched Sirius, still crying out in his sleep.

"OI! PADFOOT!" he yelled, and thwacked his pillow on his head. Sirius' eyes opened, and stopped screaming, looking around madly.

"What in _Merlin's_ name is going on?" Remus opened the door, looking freshly cleaned and wide awake. He had obviously woken up early to use the Prefect's bathroom, his good grades earning him his title.

"I-I was- snogging…ohhhh," Sirius collapsed back on his bed. Remus lifted an eyebrow as he made his bed.

"Well now, that's a new one." he said sardonically, going over to Peter's bed to wake him up.

"Who? Who were you snogging?" James asked Sirius. "Better not have been Evans," he added warningly. Sirius shook his head, seemingly mute.

"I-I was snogging Professor McGonagall." he gulped.

James' eyes bulged. "Tough luck, mate." he patted Sirius on the shoulder, trying to seem sympathetic, though really trying to stifle his laughter. Padfoot shook his head again. "That's not the worst part."

"Oh." James gulped and prepared himself for the worst. Sirius' face twisted and he winced, as if in too much pain to go on.

"And then, she turned…into…_Snivellus_."

"HAHAHA!" James couldn't help himself and fell on the floor, writhing. Even serious Remus couldn't help let the corner of his mouth twitch.

"Mm…wuz goin' on?" Peter asked, bleary-eyed. He seemed to fully wake up when he saw James on the floor.

"OH NO!" he slipped his feet into his pair of fluffy pompom slippers and hurried to his room mate's side. "CPR! Someone do CPR!"

Remus sighed and shook his head. "Pettigrew, he's fine. Something hilarious just happened."

"Really?" Peter turned to face Remus. "Moony, why didn't you tell me?"

"It's OK, mate. Joke over." Sirius replied, recovering from his shock.

"Uh oh," Remus said, pulling on his school shoes. "We'll be late for breakfast."

This got the other three boys up, and they hurriedly got into their already-crumpled school robes and followed Remus into the Gryffindor common room and out the portrait hole.

"Hello, Evans." James passed his dream girl as the four boys headed for their usual spot at their table.

"Potter." Lily barely looked at him as she gave a cool nod. James' face fell and he hurried toward Sirius, who was trying to muffle his laughter by stuffing as much toast and pastries into his mouth. Gulping down his pumpkin juice and wiping his mouth on his sleeve, he swallowed and slapped his best friend on the shoulder.

"Watch, and learn." He smirked at James. "Oi, Lily! Over here!" Sirius was waving at the girl like a lunatic. Her long red hair swung as she turned to see who was calling.

"What do you want?" she asked coldly.

"Go out with James?" Sirius gestured hopefully to James, whose face was on the table.

Lily's green eyes narrowed. "You _know _the answer to that," she snapped, before spinning on her heel and colliding with a fellow seventh-year Hufflepuff carrying a heavily-laden tray. As if apparating, James suddenly appeared at Lily's side, and grabbed her around the waist before she toppled over.

"Let.me.go." Lily said, her teeth gritted as she tried to free herself from the boy's grip.

"Just tryin' to help." James released her, a hurt look on his face. Automatically, his hand went to his tousled, messy hair as he watched her straighten her robes.

"Well…thanks." Lily gave him a tiny smile. It was so adorable how he always played with his hair. She wanted to run her fingers through it, and pull at it…not that she would ever tell him that, she thought to herself quickly.

"Not that I need your help," Lily added quickly, turning around again and practically running to the great hall's doors.

"Man, she is _so_ falling for ya," Sirius gave a shark-like grin as he turned to face his fellow Gryffindors. Remus shrugged in reply as he read his paperback copy of _Hogwarts: A History_.

Peter nodded vigorously, and choked on his pumpkin pasty. Sirius regarded him with scorn.

"Don't wet yourself while you're at it, Pettigrew."

James scarfed down the rest of breakfast and was drinking his pumpkin juice when his owl, Pescados, arrived, dropping a letter in his lap. He slit open the envelope and scanned the letter. It was from Zonko's Joke Shop, to which he had subscribed to last year.

"Oh, _yes_!" he punched a fist in the air. "Free fake owls!" Next to him, Sirius ripped open his own letter and did the same. Ecstatic, they high-fived each other and started planning their new scheme.

"Why you named your owl _fish_ in Spanish, I will never understand." Remus shook his head and offered Pescados a crust. The owl accepted it and flew out the window and to the Owlery.

"I thought it was a cool name." Peter protested, although neither Sirius nor James were listening to the other two. "I wish I had thought of it."

Remus nodded and continued reading. Sirius and James got up and drifted back to their dorm to get their books for next class, followed by Peter, when they noticed a poster stuck next to the Great Hall's entrance doors.

_Defence Against Risky Creatures Class (D.A.R.C) Now Available to Seventh Years – sign up forms below._

_Lessons start 10:30am Saturday 8th April, with Professor Folina._

"Awesome!" James lunged forward and pulled out a piece of parchment. "Aw," he said, reading the slip. "It has to be approved by parents."

"Of course it does, git." Sirius took a slip as well. "_Risky_ creatures? As in dangerous encounters." He made quotation marks with his fingers.

"Looks good to me," Remus reached in as well, putting his beloved book away in his bag. Peter watched them all.

"I think I'll do it too!" he said enthusiastically, grabbing a piece and waving it in the air. "I'll do D.A.R.C with you guys!"

James smiled wearily. "Great, Pettigrew. That's nice."

Back in her Gryffindor dorm, Lily examined the D.A.R.C slip she had taken when leaving the Great Hall, with her friend Fiona.

"Are you gonna go?" she asked Fiona.

"I guess. There's going to be D.A.R.C camps too. Sounds cool," her friend agreed.

Just then Lily glanced at her watch, which she had gotten for her birthday from her friends. Luminescent stars moved around in the border around the face, and glittered against the dark background.

"Shoot! We're going to be late for Dark Arts," she said, slipping the permission note into her book bag and slinging it over her shoulder. "Let's go."

"OK." Fiona grabbed a quill off the ground and picked up her books, and they ran out through the portrait hole and merged into the large crowd of students passing by as they went to their first class.

"There's Lily," Peter said, nudging James and pointing to the vivid red head.

"I know, Petty, I know." James replied. They drifted into the Defence Against the Arts class, where Professor Pumpet was collecting up scrolls of parchment.

"Oh, _crap_!" Sirius hit his forehead. He had forgotten, _again_, to write up his 12-inch long dragons essay. Remus shook his head in disgust.

"I suppose you forgot your homework again, Padfoot?" he asked.

"Do I _need_ to answer that?" Sirius snapped back, opening his bag and searching feverishly for parchment, though he knew he would never be able to start writing an essay in time. Instead, he closed the bag and thought up yet another excuse.

"Take your seats, please." Pumpet's shrill voice rang around the classroom as students came inside. James frowned and stared at Sirius, who was still standing, his mouth forming silent words.

"Padfoot? What's up?" he asked. Sirius seemed to snap out of his reverie and quickly sat down. "Nothin', mate." He grinned and leaned back on his chair, folding his hands behind his head. A pixie-like girl with a tiny figure and spiky black hair watched him hopefully, but he didn't notice her at all.

"Please hand in your essays on dragons now, class." Professor Pumpet waved his wand in a sweeping motion and a huge pile of scrolls landed on his desk with a rustle. He sorted through them, counting. Sirius held his breath; it would come any minute now.

"Mr Black? I don't seem to have your essay here." Pumpet looked up from the homework with a questioning look on his face. Sirius quickly arranged his face into a look of guilt.

"I'm terribly sorry, Professor. I did do my essay, but someone took my essay thinking it was scrap parchment and threw it in the fire." During this statement, his expression of guilt changed into hope and he stared at the teacher, his face a look of beseech.

"I'm really sorry, Professor. It was _my _fault." Peter sat up and waved his hand at the professor. James and Remus exchanged a look of disbelief; he _wasn't_ going to it, was he?

"Excuse me, Pettigrew?" Professor Pumpet squinted through his round, bottle-bottomed glasses as if they would help him to understand.

"It was me who threw Sirius' homework into the fire. But it was an accident!" Wormtail bleated.

"Oi! Wormtail, shaddup!" James muttered out of the side of his voice. But Sirius seemed to have caught on and quickly continued.

"Yeah, it was him, Professor. But I'll write it again tonight, I promise."

"OK, then. Class, open your books to page fifty-eight." The distraction soon disappeared and the students started to chatter as they worked on practicing defensive charms in partners.

At the end of class, the professor dismissed everyone. "Lily, Remus, James and Sirius, please stay behind." he said calmly, slipping notes into his briefcase. The three marauders looked at each other, worried.

"Have you heard about the D.A.R.C classes coming up soon?" the professor asked, squinting at them through his glasses again.

"Yes, sir." Remus replied for all of them. "We're signing up for them."

"Good, good. As my four top students, I thought it would be good for you. You will be able to get in easily."

"Get in?" James asked confusedly.

"Yes. You have to be good at Defence Against the Dark Arts to qualify for these classes. They are extremely dangerous. Well, just send those permission slips as soon as possible to your parents, and I hope I'll see you on Saturday with Professor Folina." Case settled; the professor left the room. Lily followed, without a second glance at the other three.

"Hey…does that mean that Peter won't get in?" Sirius asked. "'Cause he is a little thick sometimes."

James shrugged. "Probably. But then again, he'd wet himself if a Grindylow grabbed onto him." Chortling, the boys left for their next class.

_Author's Note:_

_This is like my first EVER fan fic story. Be a good chappy and review, will ya? I wanna know what you all think of it and yeah so that I know that there is someone out there who is reading haha. Hope you like the first chapter! My second one will probably take a while to come out coz like I take my own sweet time writing it up._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: **The Initiation of Peter Pettigrew

The three marauders waited nervously as they watched the mini pyramid of owls hurtling through the icy wind towards the windows.

"Hey, look." Remus pointed at Pescados. "Your owl's not gonna make it."

James cursed. "Fine," he replied, raising his wand as they watched the tiny owl, blown by a huge gale of wind, hurtle towards the Whomping Willow and…

"_Accio _Pescados." …Pescados was pulled by an invisible force and landed in a feathery heap on the Gryffindor table.

Ruffling his feathers angrily, he went to James and gave him a hard peck before letting him take the letter off his leg.

The other two boys on either side of him tore open their letters too.

"Great! I've got permission!" James slapped Sirius on the back happily.

"Ow, you prat." His friend rubbed his injured shoulder blade as he quickly skimmed through the letter.

"Wow, Mum said yes. She's probably hoping I get killed by a manticore," he added under his breath, scowling into his oatmeal.

"Remmy? How bout you?" James asked Remus. Remus glared at him.

"Will you _please_ stop calling me that?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"It was only once. Did you get permission?'

"Yeah." The three marauders guiltily turned towards Peter, who was moodily staring into his cornflakes, looking as if he was thinking about drowning himself in it. _Splash_. He put his thoughts into actions.

"Oh c'mon, mate." Sirius grabbed the back of Peter's robes and hauled him back up. "It's not like you like camping out. You miss Pooky too much, 'cause you're not allowed to take him along. Remember?" he reminded Peter of the one time they had gone camping by the lake for a night, and Peter had been crying all day because he missed his raggedy old teddy bear.

"Yeah, but…" Peter's face transformed from sorrowful to fear. "OH NO!" he cried out, jumping to his feet and knocking over his pumpkin juice.

"What?" Remus looked up, looking lost.

"I forgot to say good morning to Pooky! He'll never forgive me!" the tiny boy ran from the Great Hall, in direction of the Gryffindor common room. The three others snickered, and watched him.

"Hey, what's that, Prongs?" Sirius nodded at the large package that James hadn't noticed when Pescados flew in.

"Dunno," he replied, tearing the package open carefully. He let out a cry of delight. Inside was a large box, with two fake owls nestled inside.

"_Mate_!" Sirius exclaimed, reaching in to take an owl out. James pushed his hand away.

"No one's supposed to _see_ it," he hissed, wrapping the box up again. "When shall we do it?" he asked Sirius. "Where're yours?"

"Getting 'em this arvo," Padfoot answered, stuffing a whole piece of toast into his mouth. Remus checked his watch, one of his frequent habits, and stood up, putting away his battered copy of _Where Goblins Once Lived_. Peter reappeared at the table, looking frazzled and out of breath.

"He's forgiven me," he said, sliding onto the bench. Two Gryffindor girls eyed him in disgust and inched further along, continuing their conversation about if Sirius was cuter than James.

"Great, Petty." James nodded absently.

"So…have you thought about my initiation yet?" Peter asked hopefully, leaning forward, his tie dipping into a jug of orange juice. He didn't even seem to notice his bowl of cornflakes had mysteriously disappeared from in front of him and now was sitting, empty and dry, in front of Sirius.

James sprayed a mouthful of pumpkin juice and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

"_What_?" he asked incredulously. "What initiation?"

"Well," Peter was looking sulky. "You guys have always been the three marauders. You're really cool."

"Yeah, we know that, mate. Congratulations on finally noticing." Sirius answered.

"So…? Can I join?" Peter asked. James suddenly had an inspiration.

"Of course you can!" he said, leaning forwards and speaking quietly. He nudged Sirius with his arm and Sirius quickly agreed.

"Yeah, man, it'll be great!" he said.

"We'll give you an initiation on the Quidditch pitch. Meet us there tonight at nine. Nine _sharp_, or its cancelled."

"OK!" Peter gave them an excited grin. "What am I going to be doing?"

James tapped the side of his nose. "That, my apprentice, you shall find out later."

"Crap, it's cold." Sirius complained. "Do we have to go tonight?"

"_Sirius_. C'mon, it's our dear Peter's initiation!" James replied, and pulled his invisibility cloak out from his trunk.

"Come, my dear Remmy. Allow yourself to be embraced by the 'cloak'." Prongs twirled the cloak around his shoulders and left his head popping out. He started bouncing up and down, and looked ridiculously absurd, his head jiggling around the place.

"Oi, _hurry_. It's almost nine!" Sirius tugged the cloak off James and covered the three boys, sandwiching Remus between them before he could escape. They ran down to the common room and shoved through the portrait hole.

"Who's there?" called the Fat Lady. The boys continued sneaking down to the Quidditch pitch.

"Oi, Prongs," Sirius whispered as they crept along the grass. "You still haven't told me what your plan is."

"You got your wand, right?" James asked, ignoring his question. Sirius nodded and patted his jeans pocket.

"Great. We're having a bonfire."

"_What!_ A _bonfire!_" Remus hissed, nearly falling over. "How is that supposed to help Pettigrew become tough?"

"It's not." James replied. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out Pooky.

"And…is Pooky supposed to comfort Peter while he undergoes torture?" Remus asked sarcastically. "We'd better not be doing anything illegal."

"Oh geez, Remmy. Get over yourself, why don't you?" James muttered, cursing under his breath.

"OK, Padfoot, grab that big branch over there."

"Of course." Sirius flexed his muscly arms and marched over to the huge oak. Soon there was a small bonfire going in the Quidditch pitch, with a tall, thin stake rising out of the middle.

"I am ready for my initiation!" Peter suddenly appeared by the bonfire. His face fell when he saw the fire.

"I – I'm not supposed to…walk through it, am I?" he asked, his voice cracking. James smiled kindly and shook his head. "No, Peter. _But_…" he pointed at the stake in the bonfire. Poor Pooky was stuck on the top, his big eyes widened as he screamed for help. Well, that was Peter, imagining Pooky screaming.

"POOKY!" he screamed. He ran forward towards the fire. The three boys looked at each other in worry. He wasn't going to…was he…?

"AARGHHH!" a bloodcurdling scream rang through the thick silence, piercing the night.

"Oh.my-" Remus was cut off when Peter finally emerged from the fire, holding Pooky up in his hand triumphantly.

"_What _the h-!" Sirius sputtered. His zits and pale, pasty skin was still intact, with no red patches or blisters anywhere. James was grinning, next to him.

Peter jumped around in a dance of victory.

"I DID IT I DID IT I DID-" James clamped a hand over his mouth and Peter fell silent. Remus frowned and readjusted his glasses, squinting over to where the Great Hall was. Lights were starting to turn on, and he could hear voices.

"I _told_ you this was a stupid idea," he hissed at James. "Now look what you've done!" Sirius hurriedly took his wand out and squirted a fountain of water over the fire, which wouldn't go out. "_What the_!" he said again, frustrated. The water simply went through the fire.

James uncovered Peter's mouth and pushed him onto the ground, pulling out his wand and waving it once. The fire immediately disappeared. He turned to Sirius, smirking.

"It was a fake," he said, chuckling under his breath. Sirius swore, and Peter jumped up indignantly.

"No it wasn't!" he said angrily. "It was hot!"

"Heating charm," James replied calmly. "Well, you're in now. The fourth marauder. But this is only the beginning…" he turned around to pick up his Invisibility Cloak. It wasn't there.

The last thing the three boys saw was a glimpse of Remus' head disappearing under the cloak, and a flash of his white trainers as he bolted for the Great Hall.

"MOONY!"

"REMMY!"

_Author's Note:_

_Here's my second chapter, submit reviews! Hope you enjoy it – this one's really short sorry…but oh well. Tata!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:** Fake Owls!

"Good morning, Remmy." Remus squinted through half-closed eyes at his fellow room mate. "Aahhh!" he screamed, jumping up. Sirius was wearing a warty mask and a long, straggly black wig that he had taken off a first-year in the Gryffindor common room yesterday.

He fell off the bed, laughing. "That's the best reaction yet!" he managed between guffaws. Remus sat up in bed and gave Sirius the evil eye. "Don't.do.that.again."

Sirius shrugged and bounded off to the other side of the room, to terrorise his fellow room mates as well. James' reaction wasn't so good.

"Padfoot, bugger off," he said, rolling over and clamping a pillow over his head.

"But Prongsie, we're supposed to do the fake owl thing at breakfast!" Sirius persistently dragged the sheets off his friend and tugged at his feet.

"Fine," James grumbled, untangling himself and changing into his school robes.

"Got the letter?" Sirius asked. James shoved a crumpled piece of parchment at him, and Sirius eagerly snatched it away. He tore off to the Owlery, fake owls and letters in hand.

"You all right, Remmy?" James asked the werewolf. Remus was lying on the floor, his quilt still covering him.

"No."

The three…four marauders trooped into the Great Hall, James and Sirius especially excited that morning. They watched Snape, who was sitting alone at the Slytherin table, picking at his food.

"You know what, Prongsie?" Sirius said as he ladled maple onto his pancakes.

"What?" James replied.

"I have a feeling that this morning is going to be rather eventful." Sirius said this conversationally, as if it were an everyday thing.

"Oh, me too, Padfoot."

Remus and Peter frowned at each other, exchanging looks of confusion.

"Er, James?" Remus asked hesitantly. "What's going o-" he broke off as James and Sirius quickly turned to the Great Hall windows, which were wide open. Remus closed his mouth and watched scene as it played out.

Two small, tawny owls flew through the window, heading for the Slytherin table. The students were surprised; Snape rarely got any mail. Looking hesitant, Snape moved a few of his breakfast plates as the owls landed.

Instead of holding out their right leg for the receiver to take the notes or packages off, the owls started pecking Snape. Not lightly, like a warning peck – it was violent.

Sirius and James broke out in silent laughter. Remus glared at them both, while Peter watched Snape and the owls, his mouth falling open to make a large O. Between feathers and beaks, Snape looked through a gap between the owls and looked at Sirius and James, who were still shaking. It wasn't a pleasant look, Remus observed. Not that he blamed him…

"Potter! Black! Come with me." Professor McGonagall froze the hysterical pair with one frosty glare and swept outside the Great Hall, with the two following. You could practically see the tails between their legs, Remus thought to himself.

Once outside, McGonagall turned around and asked sharply, "Where did you get those owls?" Wide-eyed, James looked at Sirius, who returned an equally confused gaze.

"Whaddaya mean, Professor?" Sirius asked, his dark eyes wide and innocent. "We never had those owls." The professor snorted in response, and spun around.

"Lead me to your dormitory." Was her reply. Now genuinely confused and starting to become worried, the boys meekly went to the Gryffindor tower and climbed up the stairs. They gave the password to the Fat Lady, who (much to their dismay), swung open as soon as she caught sight of the grim McGonagall and they arrived in the common room. James hesitated, and went to the left side of the room, climbing up another flight of stairs.

Sirius gazed at him, baffled. What the hell was he doing? McGonagall looked at him suspiciously. "Something wrong, Mr. Black?"

"Oh no," Sirius replied airily. "I was just admiring your robes. Are they new?" The professor looked at him, eyes narrowed. "Keep going."

"Of course," Sirius replied merrily. He followed after James, starting to understand what he was doing. James was heading for Frank Longbottom's dorm. As they entered, James screwed his eyes shut desperately. _Please, please work, _he silently prayed to the ceiling.

"Mr Potter, this is _not_ funny. Do not try to frame your fellow Gryffindors." McGonagall's voice was sharp. She hadn't yet reached her climax. Black's chest deflated. He was _sure_ that it was going to work.

The boys eventually led the professor to their own dorm, and stood at the doorway. Professor McGonagall gingerly stepped over the piles of clothes and books on the door, making her way to James' bed. She picked through the mess in his sheets, and held up a piece of parchment, squinting at it.

_I love L.E._

Sirius snickered, as he watched James' face turn from red to purple and red again. McGonagall threw the parchment aside and went to Sirius' side of the room. He gulped.

"Aha." McGonagall triumphantly held up a scroll. "Zonko's, is it?" Sirius and James cringed, and drew backwards as the furious professor read the parchment aloud.

"That will be 25 points from Gryffindor, _each_, do you hear me? And you will be spending your free time –" when Professor McGonagall turned around, there was no one there.

"POTTER! BLACK!"

Underneath James' invisibility cloak, the two teenagers sniggered, and headed for the Dining Hall.

_Author's note:_ Hey guys! Sorry this chapter is so short, I couldn't be stuffed adding on that much, so I made it end quickly. Hopefully my next chapter won't be this short, but meh, depends on how I feel. And it probably won't come out that quickly, as I am a Procrastinator, with a capital P. R & R!


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